It all happened on my eighth birthday. You see, I have a little reading area under my bed equipped with a flashlight, snacks and all of my favorite comics. It even had a perfect little bed skirt, covering the space from the bed to the ground. I had a little habit of sneaking under there every night after my parents tucked me in and said goodnight. I got so good at hiding that I would immediately drop everything and slide into my bed if I heard even a footstep.

One night, I was so deeply engrossed in a spiderman comic that I couldn’t react fast enough. By the time my mom’s head poked in, I was still under my bed clutching my comic. I saw my mom’s feet walk towards my bed, and I was just trying to breathe as quietly as possible. I almost expected her to poke her head under the bed, and to start yelling at me for eating upstairs. Instead I heard her pull back the covers and scream, this terrible bird screeching noise. She bolted down the stairs, almost gasping for air. “John! John, Alex is gone!”, I hear my mother scream yet again. My dad replies by running upstairs to my room and scanning his eyes around it.

He dialed 911. While mom runs outside to all our neighbors houses, asking if they’ve seen me. Two hours later, police have searched every crack of our house 4 times. But no one ever thought to check under my bed. Mom is leading a search party with a local detective, and our neighbors. And me? I’ve been surviving under my bed with a box of almost empty Oreos and a strong urge to pee.

After thirty more minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore. I timidly crawled out of under the bed. I slowly made it to the living room, where police were questioning my parents. I croak out “Hi, everyone” to my parents, officers and my neighbors, my voice straining from dehydration. My dad just stands there in disbelief, while my mom runs towards me crying, asking and yelling all at once. After police and neighbors leave, I finally get to go pee. I guess the moral of the story is to go pee before you hide under your bed at night. 😉